Karnataka: 13-year-old employed as labourer for Jal Jeevan Mission work rescued

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The Karnataka police and state Child Welfare Committee (CWC) have rescued a 13-year-old girl who was allegedly forced to work as labourer for the central government’s Jal Jeevan Mission and booked four people, including the contractor.
The incident took place at Kadaramangala village in Ramanagara district, 100 km away from Bengaluru. According to the police, the child helpline run under the Bachpan Bachao Andolan scheme received a call alerting them about a minor being employed as part of a central government scheme.
Jal Jeevan Mission is a Ministry of Jal Shakti project envisioned to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024. The minor girl was working in Kadaramangala village, where pipes were being installed. Channapatna Labour Inspector B T Munilingegowda and his team visited the spot and learnt that the contractors and sub-contractors had employed her to save money.
Subsequently, on Monday, the police booked a case against chief contractor Jagadeesh and sub-contractor Puneeth of Mandya district and sub-contractor Srinivas and mason Dodda Thimmaiah of Chitradurga district. The accused were booked under sections 3 and 14 of Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016, and Section 374 (unlawful compulsory labour) of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
A police official said that as locals demand more money, contractors and sub-contractors frequently bring in people from other districts and states as cheap labour. “They do not collect information about workers or their age or whereabouts. All they need is cheap labour. This has been going on in the rural areas; only very few come to the notice of people or police. There is a lack of awareness as well. The rescued minor, who has been handed over to CWC, was a school dropout,” the official added.
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